Digital Evolution: Streamlining Logistics and Supply Chain Operations

Today’s retailers, e-tailers, distributors and manufacturers now need to move at the speed of sound. However, they’re facing an ever-shifting landscape of complex customer fulfillment requirements coupled with mounting motor carrier regulations, convoluted Customs requirements and increasing global risk—a complicated stew that’s made the management of transportation and logistics networks more difficult than ever before.

In this virtual conference, the editors of Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review define the challenges facing operations and offer solutions designed to create dynamic, automated networks that offer seamless communication, improved collaborative third-party relationships, and the ability to respond to changes at a moment’s notice.

Rich Sherman, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Keynote Address - 1:00 PM ET
The Digital Re-imagination of Supply Chains
Presented by: Rich Sherman, Senior Fellow, Global Supply Chain Practice & Center of Excellence, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

E-commerce is becoming “connected commerce,” with everything from consumer goods to building materials to specialty chemicals being marketed, bought and sold on line by customers who are “connected” to markets and suppliers.

In this keynote find out what it takes to compete in The Age of Connected Commerce as Sherman explains that it's time to re-imagine the digital supply chain as a customer-centric supply network, enabled by real time visibility, end-to-end data and advanced analytics.

Virtual Conference Sessions

Digital Characteristics of the Gartner Top 25 Supply Chains
Presenter: Michael Burkett, Research VP, Gartner, Inc.
Moderator: Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor, Supply Chain Management Review

For 12 years now, research giant Gartner has published its annual Supply Chain Top 25, a ranking of the world's leading supply chains—Unilever, McDonalds and Amazon make up the top three this year. While the ranking changes from year to year, there are some commonalities that separate the best from the rest.

During this session you’ll learn:

Steps the Top 25 take to consistently innovate

What SCM IT is top of mind for the Top 25

The top digital initiatives of leading supply chain practitioners

Transportation: The “Uberization” of Freight
Presenter: Steve Banker, VP, Supply Chain Management, ARC Advisory Group
Moderator: Michael Levans, Group Editorial Director, Peerless Media

Implementing an “Uber-” style service for moving freight has certainly piqued the interest of tech-savvy logistics professionals looking to cut costs and increase flexibility of shipments. Is the freight transportation market on the verge of being revolutionized? Or have investors underestimated the complexities associated with the movement of freight?

Join us to learn more about:

Why the definition of “Uberization of freight” continues to shift

What technologies are driving this white-hot trend

What challenges differentiate freight moves from the movement of people

Global Logistics: Supply Chain Disruption and Risk Mitigation
Presenter: Beth Pride, President, BPE Global
Moderator: Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor, Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management Review

As the Hanjin Shipping debacle recently demonstrated, risk is a fact of life for global supply chain professionals—and new areas of exposure can appear at any time. Today, the increasing awareness of risk management is leading to more vigilance when it comes to selecting carriers, third-party logistics providers, as well as second- and third-tier suppliers who must be constantly evaluated and measured for their security.

In this session, we'll explore how shippers can work toward mitigating the increasing threats facing ever-stretched global supply chains. Join us and gain insight on:

Why the practice of “risk management” is growing in importance

The increasing role technology is playing in risk mitigation

What steps global shippers can take to put risk management into action

3PL/Freight Forwarders: Creating Collaborative Partnerships
Presenter: Cathy Morrow Roberson, President, Logistics Trends & Insights
Moderator: Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor, Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management Review

Today's third-party partners can certainly handle traditional end-to-end logistics management across the globe, yet their ability to meet shipper IT demands has added an entirely new dimension. However, many believe this activity has fueled an ongoing commodification of third-party services that has caused many global shippers to seek key differentiators across the provider landscape.

In this session, we set out to define the changing global environment that spurred the M&A frenzy, examine the wide variety of new technology services being offered, and offer a checklist designed to help logistics operations find the right partner to grow a truly collaborative partnership.